‘I want to retire earlier than planned, how do I go about this?’

Q. I am 63 years old and my wife is 59. Although I have until 67 to retire, I am thinking of retiring when I turn 64 (due to ill health) and my wife at 60. I have savings and super amounting to about $700,000 and a family home, but I am not sure how to go about this. 

The first issue is how you will cope between when you retire and when you reach pensionable age.

The next thing is to arrange your affairs to maximise your pension when you do reach pensionable age, given the four year age difference between you and your wife.

A person’s superannuation is not assessed by Centrelink until they have reached pensionable age, so it would be worthwhile to take professional advice about moving as much of your superannuation as you can to your wife’s name, where it will not be counted by Centrelink (unless she starts to draw an income from it).

An adviser will also analyse your goals and your risk profile and help you form a course of action, to enable you to draw down capital while you’re waiting to become eligible for the pension.

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IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your financial or legal situation, objectives or needs. That means it’s not financial product or legal advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a financial or legal decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get independent, licensed financial services or legal advice.